Four Hudson County teams head to RBI regional play

The 2014 RBI Northeast Regional Tournament, sponsored by Major League Baseball, officially begins today with opening ceremonies, but the competition doesn’t kick off until tomorrow. Four Hudson County teams advanced to the regional round, including the Jersey City Jackie Robinson junior and senior baseball teams.

The games will run tomorrow and Saturday, with the championships being held Sunday at Long Island University in Brooklyn. The champions advance to the RBI World Series in Texas, which runs from Aug. 6-17. Here’s a look at both Jackie Robinson squads:

Jackie Robinson Mets, Senior Division

For the senior team, the plan for regional play is to win every inning, according to head coach Ron Hayward.

“The plan is to win every inning,” Hayward, also the Marist baseball head coach, said. “We’re playing to win every game. Each game is a playoff game.”

After finishing district pool play with a 2-1 record, the Mets will face Harlem tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in the regional tournament. The following day they’ll play Paterson at 10:45 a.m. and Greater NY at 4 p.m. All their games will be played at Central Park in Manhattan.
Pitching has been a strong point for the Mets, and Marist graduate Matt Littrell leads them in that department. Former Millburn shortstop and Rutgers commit Milo Freeman has lead the way at the plate for the Mets.

Like each coach at this stage, Hayward is charged with the task of curating team chemistry with a roster of players from various schools.

“We have a good team we just have to come together,” Hayward said. “I think this week of practice is big for us. We have the talent to move on. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t.”

Jackie Robinson Mets, Junior Division

Perhaps it’s time for some junior Mets to be called up to the bigs, or at least to the senior division.

The 2-1 Mets outscored their first two section opponents, Hoboken and Newark, 20-0. Jersey City eventually humbled them, 2-1, in the final game of pool play.

The Mets will face Boston at 8:30am and Harlem at 11am at Randall’s Island tomorrow, before taking on Greater NY on Saturday at Central Park.

Speed and pitching will be the key for the Mets as they begin regional play.
“We have a lot of speed and we run the bases very well,” coach Danny Suarez said, who serves as the head coach of Dickinson. “The key is our pitching staff, we have to keep it close. I think our offense will score a lot of runs.”

Suarez is hoping that his four-man pitching rotation can carry his team all the way to the World Series in Texas. That staff consists of Dickinson sophomore tandem Jose Fontan and Julio Suarez, Dickinson freshman Adam Swift and Bayonne sophomore Corey Johnson.